Space Launch Vehicles

Northrop Grumman's space launch vehicles are the industry standard for boosting small and medium payloads to orbit. Our innovative Pegasus® rocket is launched from the company's "Stargazer" L-1011 carrier aircraft and has proven to be the industry's small space launch workhorse, having conducted 43 missions from six different launch sites worldwide since 1990. Northrop Grumman's Antares space launch vehicle provides medium-class space launch for payloads weighing up to 8,000 kg. OmegA™, Northrop Grumman's newest rocket, is currently in development for the U.S. Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. This is a new class of intermediate- and large-class launch vehicles.

The three-stage Pegasus is used to deploy small satellites weighing up to 1,000 pounds into low-Earth orbit. Pegasus is carried aloft by our Stargazer L-1011 aircraft to approximately 40,000 feet over open ocean, where it is released and free-falls five seconds before igniting its first stage rocket motor. With its unique delta-shaped wing, Pegasus typically delivers satellites into orbit in a little over 10 minutes.

Designed to provide responsive and low-cost access to space, Antares is a two-stage vehicle (with optional third stage) that provides low-Earth orbit (LEO) launch capability for payloads weighing over 8,000 kg. The Antares design has been upgraded with newly-built RD-181 first stage engines to provide greater payload performance and increased reliability.

Under the U.S. Air Force Orbital/Suborbital Program-3 (OSP-3) contract, Northrop Grumman integrates, tests and provides space launch services for the Minotaur I, IV, V, and VI family of rockets. Employing a combination of U.S. government-supplied rocket motors and Northrop Grumman's proven commercial launch technologies, the Minotaur family of launchers provides low-cost and reliable access to space for government-sponsored payloads. To date, our Minotaur rockets have completed 26 missions out of every major U.S. spaceport with 100% success, demonstrating the vehicle’s unique versatility and reliability. Northrop Grumman also offers a commercial Minotaur option for NASA and launch customers unable to meet government sponsorship requirements.